Xenocrates wrote:So, I was on the fence about the V2, but today settled the question. Unfortunately, that happened because my Berd-Air dropped down into the part (Second time it's happened, but I changed the mount and added superglue between those events), causing it to come up and fail while I was in class. Not a problem so much with the Berdair, but more of with mounting it. That caused it to get stuck in a large clump of ABS.

I though, No problem, I'll just cut that down some and soak it in acetone. Well, I didn't do too great there, because I managed to nick the edge of the tubing inside the hunk (Didn't even notice it).

I just wish I had gotten the V2 at MRRF, since I was just there, and could have avoided the downtime on the Berd-Air.

I definitely am going to epoxy a trio of little lugs onto it to hold it in place (Positive retention on both sides for two positions, Volcano and V6) when I get the next one set up, and I'm not questioning my getting a new one in the slightest. It is a lovely bit of kit, and I love the idea.

Sorry to hear that. That happened to me also once. A loose connection prevented my pump from turning on and the edge of a small overhang curled up and the pipe snagged it. When I found it the part was hanging from the pipe and a big yellow mass around the heater block. lol

As long as my pipe is working properly that little over hang stays flat! That pesky overhang in the past would either cause the hot end to knock the print off the bed, or it would actually push the nozzle over 2 mm and cause a nasty layer shift.

I was able to save my pipe simply by heating my hotend up and carefully pulling the mass of PLA off.

This system works best for smaller areas. Large volume of material or big over hangs are harder too cool. I’m currently testing other pumps for greater volume, and additional cooling pipes for larger areas. The grater the mass of plastic the harder it is too cool, but thin walls and smaller area is where you should see a difference. It should cool PLA just fine. I use PLA mostly and I started getting Layer separation after I started using my Berd-Air. One tip is to keep the Yellow tube as short as possible as it will restrict your airflow.

The main goal here is to remove the big bulky layer fans all together. I really don't like all that clutter on the hotend.

Some sample parts using the new BerdAir Max - much better cooling. These parts were printed with 0% infill and two outer shells on my Graber I3. I kept the temperature settings the same and used the same GCODE for each print; the only change was switching to the Max pump. I'm driving the larger pump directly off of a super cheap RAMPS board with the original mosfet for speed control. The mosfet barely gets warm to the touch even after hours of printing.

I recently purchased this, and i was wondering if there is anything in particular that i should know. It seems pretty simple... but any tips or tricks anyone knows of let me know. I plan to mount it on my enclosure about half way down the rostock to keep the tube shortish.

Also, can I plug this into the rambo board directly (using the part fan PWM) or do i need a separate controller?

Also, if i connected that to the current fan output, could i use it to control the pump? And, could i use the same 12v power supply using that? I think i read somewhere if you use an SSR you have to use separate power supplies.

The kit comes with everything you need, it will work with any hot end, but you'll likely have to design a mount for it. I'd buy an extra ring tube, because there is a small learning curve to getting the right bend on the tube. Other than that i am very impressed with the upgrade.

I like them a lot too. I do wish it was possible to get one sized to fit at the base of an E3D heater sock, as I found they didn't fit properly with one. Perhaps I should just buy some tubing and give it a shot myself.

Xenocrates wrote:I like them a lot too. I do wish it was possible to get one sized to fit at the base of an E3D heater sock, as I found they didn't fit properly with one. Perhaps I should just buy some tubing and give it a shot myself.

How big do you need the inner diameter to be? I can adjust the circle to fit larger nozzles.

Yes, the E3D sock is quite useful and I've modified my air tubes to fit over a couple of printers with them. It is nominally 12mm diameter and about 3mm tall. Here is a photo of a slightly expanded BerdAir tube wrapped around it.

I don't think you need to change your design, as it is the aluminum tube nicely snugs and is held on the sock.

funnily enough, the spare tube I have fits over them without issue, while the one that I actually use currently is a little tight. If there's any adjustment needed, it's on the sub-millimeter scale overall. Perhaps I just suck at bending tubing.

Ah - OK. If the ring is a bit tight, hold the ring in your left hand and grasp the ring between your thumb and for-finger. Then carefully pull the ring open a bit with your right hand, pulling on the straight part. Very little movement is needed, be careful not to pull to hard as the holes make the tubing weak and my bend or break.

I will order a sock and make sure the ring fits for the future!

Thanks!

BTW, I just received more pumps so I will be listing more kits soon! (probably Monday) I also have a "do-hicky" I designed so the pump can be controlled directly from your printers FAN output without fear of blowing out the Fans output MOSFET! I'll post more on it as soon as the boards come in!

i also would be interested in a pipe that fits the jackets.. i purchased som copper tubing and plan to make some straight nozzles, but, obviously i think a round one that fits the socks would be better.